The delightful ballet La Boutique Fantasque (The Magic Toy Shop) was conceived around the salon music of Gioachino Rossini. Diaghilev commissioned the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi to construct a suite of dances from Rossini’s works. The scenario and choreography were created by Léonide Massine. The ballet was first seen in London on June 5, 1919, with Massine and Lydia Lopokova featured as the can-can dancing dolls, with the venerable ballet-master, Enrico Cecchetti, as the shopkeeper.